66: Chapter 66 The Great Lich Speaks!

Commands were issued via the command panel.

The city gates opened, and a dark mass of the Undead Race surged into the forest.

Skeleton Soldiers chopped down trees, Sand Jackals transported them, and Minotaurs swung their bone hammers to smash through the rock layers.

Seeing this, Xu Qin nodded with satisfaction and turned to walk into the Forging Area.

He arrived at the console, opened his inventory, and took out the blue-quality blueprint.

[Underground War Workshop · Blueprint]

He clicked to use it.

Hum! The blueprint turned into a beam of blue light and merged into the console in the center of the Forging Area.

The lights within the Forging Area immediately illuminated.

A semi-circular auxiliary building rose from the ground.

Beep! Three new options appeared on the console.

[Bone Drill Vehicle]

[Earthquake Stake]

[Underground Trap · Series]

Xu Qin clicked on the first option.

[Bone Drill Vehicle]

[Quality: Green (Excellent)]

[Construction Requirements: Bone × 200, Iron Ore × 50, Soul Energy × 500]

[Function: Can quickly tunnel underground, with a digging speed ten times that of similar unit types. Used for digging tunnels during sieges or destroying enemy underground facilities.]

[Capacity Limit: 2 Skeleton Soldier units.]

"This thing..." Xu Qin stroked his chin, "Next time I run into those tunnel rats like the Troglodytes, I can just drill straight in and wipe out their nest."

He clicked on the second option.

[Earthquake Stake]

[Quality: White (Common)]

[Construction Requirements: Bone × 100, Stone × 30]

[Function: After being buried, it can trigger a small-scale earthquake with a five-meter radius, destroying foundations and underground structures.]

The third option was the Trap Series, including bone spike pits, soul energy tripwires, poison mist traps, and so on. They were all sneaky tactics used for setting ambushes.

After reviewing the new functions of the Forging Area, Xu Qin clicked on the [Ordnance Technology] tab at the bottom.

There were three gray icons there, all marked as [Locked].

He clicked on the first one.

[Underground Tunneling Technology · Lv1]

[Unlock Requirements: Bone × 1000, Soul Energy × 2000, elite soul core × 5]

[Effect: All underground combat units have their tunneling speed increased by 20%, and the probability of being discovered while digging is reduced by 30%.]

The second was [Trap Enhancement · Lv1], and the third was [Tunnel Camouflage · Lv1].

Xu Qin did not hesitate and unlocked all three technologies. The resource numbers jumped, and the technology icons turned from gray to blue.

"Alright."

"Start building the first batch of drill vehicles."

Xu Qin exited the technology interface and added five Bone Drill Vehicles to the construction queue.

Although the resource consumption wasn't large, it required time. The Acolytes responded to the call and began transporting materials from the Combat Readiness Platform.

After finishing this, Xu Qin left the Forging Area. He passed through the bone corridor and arrived at the Hall of Valor.

At this moment, the great hall was empty, with only a faint glow emanating from the promotion platform in the center. Tian Ming's skeletal body stood by the platform, awaiting orders.

Xu Qin walked up to it, opened his inventory, and took out the purple, heart-shaped item.

[Hero's Heart · Epic]

"Old friend."

Xu Qin said softly, "Step onto the platform."

Tian Ming's crown tilted slightly, and it turned to walk onto the promotion platform. It knelt on one knee, lowered its skull, and assumed a posture of receiving a tribute.

Xu Qin clicked [Use].

[Confirm use of item: Hero's Heart?]

[Target: Tian Ming · Undead Arch-Lich]

[Using this will unlock the Epic promotion path, consuming a large amount of Soul Energy and elite soul core.]

Xu Qin looked at the resource consumption that popped up on the panel.

48,000 Soul Energy and 60 elite soul cores. His mouth twitched.

Good grief, that much?

Soul energy is fine, but the elite soul cores—that wipes out a third of my stock.

But he did not hesitate and pressed [Confirm].

What is the purpose of resources?

To hoard?

No, to use!

Boom!

The Hero's Heart exploded into a ball of purple light, seeping along Tian Ming's spine into its bone structure. Tian Ming's body began to tremble.

The surface of its bones peeled away, revealing bones that shimmered with a dark purple luster. Its robes fluttered without wind, flapping loudly.

[Resources Consumed: Soul Energy - 48000, elite soul core - 60]

Xu Qin stared at the figure on the platform, which was gradually wrapped in purple light, his eyes full of anticipation.

Three seconds later, the purple light reached its peak.

A beam of deep blue light erupted from Tian Ming's skull, pierced through the top of the Floating City, and shot into the night sky. The entire Floating City trembled slightly within this beam of light.

The beam of light lasted for a full five seconds before slowly dissipating.

When the purple light on the promotion platform faded, Tian Ming's figure was revealed once again.

Its bones had turned from gray-white to dark purple. A fist-sized, dark purple crystal floated and rotated, emitting faint shadow fluctuations.

However, the most obvious change was its soul fire. The originally quietly burning deep blue flame had now turned deep purple. At the core of the flame, golden light spots were circulating.

[Tian Ming · Undead Arch-Lich · Hero]

[Quality: Epic (Purple)]

[Level: 21 (2775 / 3000)]

[Base Attribute Changes (No Equipment Bonus)]

[Attack Power: 152 (Magic - Shadow / Ranged)]

[Defense: 71]

[Health Points: 1150]

[Mana Points: 2800]

[Range: 45 meters]

[Skill List (All Level 5): Death Wither, Wither, Undead Tide, Legion of the Dead, Shadow Bolt, Shadow Barrage, Shadow Cage]

[Epic Passive Unlocked: Undead Wisdom]

[Undead Wisdom: Tian Ming can autonomously determine priority targets on the battlefield without requiring real-time instructions from the Lord. It will also feed battlefield information back to the Lord's command panel in real-time.]

"Not bad."

Xu Qin nodded with satisfaction after reading the description of [Undead Wisdom].

This was equivalent to connecting a real-time front-line camera to his command panel. And it was the kind with intelligent analysis.

Just then.

Tian Ming stood up from the promotion platform.

The purple soul fire gazed at its master, and the crown tilted slightly.

Then.

A hoarse, deep voice emanated from its skeletal throat.

"Master."

"Thank you."

Xu Qin was stunned upon hearing this and blinked.

He stepped forward and asked:

"You can speak now?"

Tian Ming nodded.

"Yes, Master. After the promotion, the strength of my soul core is sufficient to drive my vocal organs."

"Good, good, good!" Xu Qin laughed heartily and raised his hand to pat Tian Ming on the shoulder.

"In the future, when I'm free, I'll chat with you. Day after day with no one to talk to, I was going to die of boredom."

"Yes, it is a great honor." Tian Ming replied.

"Alright then, follow me to inspect the Floating City now!"

Xu Qin took Tian Ming and turned to leave the Hall of Valor.

When they returned to the Watchtower, the night was already deep.

Reconnaissance reports were coming back one after another.

The Skeleton Vultures and Sand Rats had already spread out thirty kilometers.

At this moment.

The area map on the command panel was already marked with green safe points and red alert points.

Xu Qin quickly browsed through them.

Within thirty kilometers, there were no traces of other Lords.

There were only scattered groups of Erosion Beasts, which posed no threat to the Floating City. The resource points were very dense, enough to harvest for three to five days.

"Continue reconnaissance."

He ordered the vulture flock,

"Extend the radius to fifty kilometers. Report immediately if there is any movement."

After issuing the order.

Xu Qin opened the treasury again and found the sixty-six Hero skeletons that had been doubled by [War Gift].

He clicked on the description of one of the Orc hero skeletons.

[Alien Hero Skeleton]

[Quality: Common]

[Description: Can be converted into an Undead Race hero. After conversion, it does not possess command abilities, but retains its combat abilities and skills from its lifetime, becoming a super unit with independent combat intelligence.]

[Conversion Cost: 5000 Soul Energy, 10 elite soul cores.]